This stream flowing in the Columbia Gorge seems to be alive with the spirit
of the place. On many hikes over the years I would pause for a moment and
it always felt special in some way. In 2001, I visited it with a camera
and took a few photos, and over several more trips discovered a spot where the
water glows with colors of green and blue that shimmer like an alien kind of
molten metal. When I saw the photographs for the first time I felt that a
fantasy landscape from my dreams was suddenly made real.

At my best moments creativity becomes a dreamlike process where the landscape
leads me to a place beyond my awareness. The sacred part of this process
is that I receive an amazing gift: a photograph to show the dream to
others. The best writers can spin a fantasy from their dreams; I feel most
fortunate to do the same with an image. There is an important lesson here,
that creativity requires a willingness to be led, a desire to be free to flow
with events and see where they take oneself, much as the waters in this
creek.